Photo: Beat Auburn Beat Hunger’s first appearance at UA’s Homecoming Parade. Submitted by Courtney Charland.
We sat down with Courtney Charland, the Executive Director of UA’s Beat Auburn Beat Hunger. Beat Auburn Beat Hunger has been around for now 23 years. Each year they prepare for their competition food drive while also spreading awareness about the issue of hunger in Alabama. They help serve the West Alabama Food Bank in Northport, Alabama who serves the nine counties of West Alabama which include Bibb, Fayette, Greene, Hale, Lamar, Marion, Pickens, Sumter and Tuscaloosa. While the main event is a competition with Auburn University of collecting the most canned foods on each campus, the purpose goes a lot further than a rivalry. Courtney shared with us that 1 in 4 children in the state of Alabama are food insecure in which they do not know where their next meal will come from. This amount could fill the 101,821 capacity Bryant-Denny Stadium two and a half times. Beat Auburn Beat Hunger is working to decrease that large number of those in need.
Beyond just setting those red barrels out on campus, the Beat Auburn Beat Hunger team works hard to truly educate students at UA about the issue of hunger at hand. This team is a diverse group of college students who have come together to open their hearts and truly help those in need. While we love beating Auburn at everything, it is important to keep in mind how your donations can help a child and their family have meals and not go hungry.
BABH will be holding their kickoff this Monday at 11 AM to 3 PM in the Ferguson Center where there will be lots of fun activities and information about fighting hunger! Make sure you go check it out, we’ll be giving away a prize to one lucky winner on Twitter (@HCUAlabama) for your attendance!
If you’d like to get involved with or find more information about Beat Auburn Beat Hunger, please visit http://beatauburnbeathunger.ua.edu/ and follow their social media:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BeatAuburnBeatHunger
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UA_BABH
Instagram: http://instagram.com/ua_babh